Malcolm Wallis

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Malcolm John David Wallis (born 8 July 1950) is a retired South African judge who served on the Supreme Court of Appeal from 2011 to 2021. Before that, he was a judge in the KwaZulu-Natal High Court from 2009 to 2011 and an advocate in Natal since 1973.

Education and early career
Wallis went to Durban High School and earned a BCom and LLB from the University of Natal in 1972. He became a king’s or queen’s counsel (silk) in 1985. He led the Natal Bar from 1991 to 1993 and the General Council of the Bar from 1994 to 1997. In 2010, he earned a PhD from the University of KwaZulu-Natal on maritime law; his work was published as The Associated Ship and South African Admiralty Jurisdiction.

Judicial career
He joined the KwaZulu-Natal High Court on 1 January 2009 and also sat on the Labour Appeal Court from 2010 to 2011. In June 2011, President Jacob Zuma appointed him to the Supreme Court of Appeal, where he served for a decade.

Notable work
One of his notable judgments was Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development v Southern African Litigation Centre, ruling that the South African government acted unlawfully by not arresting Omar al-Bashir under the ICC. He was an acting judge of the Constitutional Court from July to September 2015 and wrote the unanimous decision in Kham v Electoral Commission, which invalidated by-elections in Tlokwe in 2013.

In 2017, the Judicial Service Commission shortlisted him for a permanent seat on the Constitutional Court; the commission recommended him along with others, but President Zuma appointed Leona Theron instead. Wallis retired from the judiciary in 2021.

Personal life
He married Janet in 1977, and they have three children.